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john jennings

In today’s political climate it feels like we rarely see each other as humans. It is mostly what political megalomaniacs tend to spin is what we each other as, labels and often lies.

This is even more distressing in communities of color, as the disparity in conviction rates has perpetuated a false narrative of black on black crime and that myth that people who grow up in these communities, have a choice.

Growing up in these communities myself, I know this not true, as the lack of choices is what leads many to the choices they make. Many of these choices are rarely ever ideal.

It is a lifetime of indiscernibility as Ralph Ellison wrote in the Invisible Man:

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.

This is what was wrong with Matt Groening’s argument surrounding South Asians’ issue with the Apu character, is that he refused to see the problem. His privilege gave him blinders that would otherwise come full on a creator of color. This void all people of color carry, is something we barely show to our non POC acquaintances, but it is there. Even more difficult is the burden as well as journey most creators of color face, how their work is most often misunderstood, how they rarely receive the same accolades as their white counterparts. This is why Dr. Francis Gateward and John Jennings chose to illuminate those creators in The Blacker The Ink about those stories that made the comics world what it is, but rarely gets told, when it comes to creators of a more sepia tone.

In “The Introduction” the editors recount how it was for them to grow up as children, being interested in comics and not seeing themselves reflected in the comics they enjoyed. In the chapter entitled “No Sweat”, Daniel Yezbick dissects how the Comics Code changed a well-intentioned progressive story because of unfair targeting at EC Comics. In “Sex in Yop City”, Sally McWilliams talks about the first attempt to produce a graphic novel about modern Africa, and how the politics of racial fragility prevented the book from reaching the masses it intended to. In “A Post colony in Pieces”, the reader is treated to how the lessons in Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks can be seen throughout Joshua Dysart’s run In Unknown Soldier. In “Fashion in Funny Papers”, Nancy Goldstein attempts to give prolific Jackie Ormes, the justice she richly deserved. In “Graphic Remix”, Coleman and Youmans chronicle the stratospheric rise of the Boondocks as not only as comic strip and cartoon but also as a cultural touchstone. In “American Truths”, Conseula Francis examines the 2002 comic, “Truth: Red, White & Black”, which tells the story of the first men to get the Captain America’s powers before him. In “Drawn into Dialogue”, Andre Carrington, uncovers the story behind Milestone’s Icon and one of its most controversial stories, which is considered relevant today but revolutionary at the time. In “Critical Afrofuturism”, Reynaldo Anderson tells about some fo the first comics to feature” Afrofuturism”, as one of the first books was Ramzez: Prince of Panet Heru. In “Bare Chests, Silver Tiaras and Removable Afros”, Blair Davis, uncovers the evolving look of black superheroes through the whole history of comic books. In “Daddy Cool”, Kinohi Nishikawa tells the story of how Donald Goines gave the world, he first graphic novel about street life from a black perspective. In “The Tragic Bluescomic”, Qianna Whitted talks about Stager Lee, and its long hard road to publication. In “Provocation Through Polyphony”, Craig Fischer gives a behind the scenes look of how Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner came to be. In “Performance Geography”, Hershini Bhana Young, they dissect Jeremy Love’s Bayou. In “A Secret History of Miscegenation”, James Ziegler, gives readers a look at Jimmy Corrigan and how the main character’s adoption of a black child, gave readers pause. In the final story, “It’s A Hero?”, Rebecca Wanzo, examines society’s lack of empathy and refusal to see a hero of color, has led to generations of children of color struggling with identity and self-empowerment.

Overall, a groundbreaking work that neither preaches or purely entertains but educates and stokes the fire of readers everywhere to dig into these comic books. Each essay/story gives readers much needed insight into these pioneers and under read classics. The rose of each story is both intriguing and illuminating. Altogether, a much-needed book which tells a part of the story, but does it very well, as the story continues to today.

When I was a teenager in high school I delved into “knowledge of self.” I wanted to learn more than what I learned in school. One of my uncles stoked that fire in me, when he gifted me a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X for my birthday. Before I read that book, I only knew of Malcolm X from what the media said about him decades after his death. They always portrayed his ideals as incendiary compared to Martin Luther King Jr.

This lead to my reading even more books and my being exposed to the evils of colonialism, the marginalization of indigenous peoples, and misleading values of assimilation. Which is also why when I watched Haile Gerima’s Sankofa, it made me look at how if we don’t know our own history we are doomed to repeat it.

In Ayize Jama-Everett and John Jennings’ Box Of Bones, a young graduate student discovers a box that is more trouble than she expected.

We meet Lyndsey, a grad student who is getting her degree in African American Studies. She does her dissertation on the Night Doctors, a set of demonic creatures from Afrika folklore. They’ve been seen in certain key moments in history and through a mysterious box. As she begins her research, the people she interviews are distraught with the memories the box brings with. Strange things start occurring everywhere. The first one being her grandfather who tells her about when a gang raped his sister and beat him half dead which prompted them to use the box of bones on the people who attacked them. But as is expected in this type of stroy, the use of the box comes with a cost, more than they could have bargained for. It’s a story that shows the evils of racism in the Antebellum South mixed with a tinge of the supernatural.

The story by Jama-Everett is smart, captivating, and unnerving. The art by Jennings is alluring. It is both scary and intriguing. The comic is a frighteningly penetrating story that gets the reader at their core leaving you in pieces.

Time Travel has always been an interesting way to look at characters. This the reason why Back To The Future, is so relatable, as one decision in that story has repercussions and thereby making the right one is paramount to everything. Then there is HG Wells The Time Machine, which is a character study at its most base, where you realize man is and will always be the same good and bad. The last example, that most reverberates, is probably Dickens A Christmas Carol, whereby time travel is accomplished through paranormal means.

The one thing that threads all these examples together, is the fact that they barely have characters which possess melanin. When they do like it in Back to the Future, is they are mostly background characters, or plot devices, like Mayor Goldy, to illustrate what certain choices yield. Rarely, has time travel been ideal for people of color, in science fiction, as one could only believe that they may have not existed during those times, which history refutes time and time again. One example in science fiction, that comes to mind, is a 1993 movie by Haile Gerima, called Sankofa, where a model times travels to slavery times.

Enter Octavia Butler, whose is an iconoclast in the science fiction world, and though she passed in 2006, her words live on and more so, in works like these. In Kindred, as the synopsis sums up:

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is abruptly snatched from her home in California and transported to the ante-bellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, has summoned her across time to save him from drowning. After this first summons, she is drawn back, again and again, to protect Rufus and ensure he will grow to manhood and father the daughter who will become Dana’s ancestor. Each time she arrives in the past, Dana’s sojourns will become more and more dangerous because of Rufus’ obsessive need for her. The reader never knows whether she will survive one journey or the next. It’s only when she finally must save herself from rape by killing Rufus that she is finally freed from the pull of the past.

As I remember reading this book when I was 13, and had not picked it up since, but this adaptation, brought all those goosebumps, back all at once. By story’s end, the reader has been taken on a ride, realizing things about themselves as well as the need for empathy in the human race.

Overall, when it comes to adaptations, this more than captures the spirit, pushes it to new heights. Damian Duffy deftly gets every message Butler was conveying and gets why this book has been a cornerstone, to every Octavia Butler fan. John Jennings‘ illustrations leap off the page, tugging at the reader’s heartstrings, at the right beats and not flinching when most artists would. Altogether, a strong adaptation, which not only met expectations but makes one fall in love with story all over again.

Magnetic Press, Jennings & Duffy will be making more official announcements at the panel, where they will reveal more about their partnership. The panel will be held on Saturday, July 23rd from 8:00-9:00pm in Room 28 DE, and will be will be co-moderated by Jennings & Duffy. Magnetic Press teased the title image by Ashley A. Woods, which hints at announcements to be made during the panel.

This marks Magnetic Press’ 3rd consecutive appearance at San Diego Comic-Con since the publisher’s debut three years ago at SDCC 2014. Magnetic Press can be found at booth #5534.

The thing about legends that makes them endure is the part of the human psyche which does believe without actually seeing any empirical evidence, that which some call, faith. Some of these legends come off as mere “tall tales” or exaggerations of what actually happened. Then there are those which are told so visceral, that the details make them, live long after the storyteller has left the living. One of those legends, that had so much detail and told in such a tangible way, is the tale of the Devil and Robert Johnson.

This particular story has been explored in popular culture through movies like Crossroads starring Ralph Macchio and through shows like Supernatural. In the comics’ realm, you have iconic characters like Ghost Rider, who practically signed a deal with the devil in order to achieve some temporary wish that will take him seemingly forever to pay off. There are also the indirect adaptations like the popular manga and anime, Death Note, which the main character, Light makes a deal with Shinigami, the angel of death, to be able to kill anyone whom he writes their name in his book but in return not enter heaven or hell. Then there are those adaptations that are truly genre defying, such as John Jennings’ Blue Hand Mojo.

As their solicitation describes the story as:

1931. Bronzeville. Chicago. The mage, Frank “Half Dead” Johnson, is a marked man. Literally. A drunken decision fueled by tragedy has left him with half a soul, sorcerous powers, and two centuries to work off his debt to Scratch (aka The Devil) himself.

Within the first few pages, you enter one of Frank’s dreams, one very much reminiscent of a scene from Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Frank is truly in one of the best ages in Chicago’s history, one that John Jennings takes full advantage of, by Frank getting involved in a case with Macieli Gotti aka Mac the Shark, a lieutenant in Al Capone’s gang, where it seems as his crew was affected by black magic, which is right up Frank’s alley. By issue’s end, Frank is in one hell of a mess between his due to the devil and the gangster world.

Overall, a good blend of crime noir, history and horror, which not only is an above average addition to each of those genres, but a very innovative interpretation of this well-worn trope. The story by John Jennings, works well within any of the genres it inhabits, and a solid crime noir, which is reminiscent of Mickey Spillane. The art by John Jennings, is a huge difference from many of his pioneers, as his artistic stylings is unique and more of which I would like to see more of. Altogether, a fine mix of genres, that not only entertains but will make fans of John Jennings incredible talents.

Later this month John Jennings and Damian Duffy will be releasing an anthology, Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art, and Culture, that showcases independent African American cartoonists and the subculture of conventions, websites, and awards surrounding them.

Duffy and Jennings met at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Jennings is a professor of graphic design and Duffy was a graduate student at the time and is currently a PhD candidate. Their first collaboration was The Hole a sci-fi graphic novel which dealt with “issues of identity and consumer culture.” They then followed that up with two art exhibits which focused on African American comic creators.

The contacts they made at these two shows lead to the graphic novel which serves as an introduction to this area of comic book culture. People featured in it include Dawud Anyabwile, the creator of Brotherman, Keith Knight, the author of The K Chronicles who wrote the introduction, Turtel Onli the creator of NOG: The Protector of the Pyramids, Sustah-Girl: The Queen of the Black Age, and Malcolm-10, and up and coming artists like Ashley A. Woods the creator of Millennia Wars and Arie Monroe.

The book also focuses on the history and nature of the Black independent comics community and the subcultures that orbit it. Online you can find some of that history and community in the The Museum of Black Superheroes which was founded by Omar Bilal.

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- The Management

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